Rubber-cushioned heel



F. NEUBAUER.

RUBBER CUSHIONED HEEL. APPLICATION FILED JUNE I2, 1919.

Panamar 001e. 26,1920.

. www5 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. l'

rFERDINAND NEUBAUER, or CLEVELAND, oHIo.

RUBBER-CUSHIONED HEEL.

Application filed June 12, 1919. Serial No. 303,571.

To @ZZ whom it 'may concer/n:

Be it known that I, FERDINAND NEUBAUER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of (,lhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rubber-Cushioned Heels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention consists in a rubber cushioned heel for boots and shoes, and in the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a horizontal section of a shoe having my new and improved heel thereon, Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the heel, and Fig. 8* a cross Vsection on line 3 3, Fig. 2, and showing a washer' and a nut detached at the side. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the metal casing or shell of the heel, and Fig. 5 a detail of one of the front rubber insets or wearing pieces. Fig. 6 shows a detail of the frog, so called, which intervenes the rubber insets4 and bears against them inbracing relations.

The heel is made and sold complete as an article and is adapted to be attached to boots and shoes somewhat generally, and especially for men, or on such shoes as have heels of ordinal.T height, though they might of course also be made relatively higher for womens shoes. The main member consists of the metallic casing or shell c, which preferably is of aluminum so as to be light, and has an outer portion or rim 2 and a bottom 3 with openings to receive the rubber insets or pieces 4 and 5. The openings or holes 6 and 7 for the rubber areso proportiened and disposed as to receive fairly good sized pieces, blocks or chluuks of rubber which is of a flexible or yielding kind, and the rear opening is curved segmentally to the contour or curvature of the heel and all said pieces are alike secured in place by suitable screws or bolts 8. Said screws have beveled heads in thisinstance, and washers 9 and tubular nuts 10 to secure the pieces or blocks in place upon the heel on the shoe. These screws enter half round or partially open cavities 12 in the inner edges of the said openings and which are so disposed in respect to the rubber blocks that when the screws are drawn tight the heads of the nuts will bite into the rubber in such way as to eiectually hold the rubber in placeV or from creeping out. Of colurse the pressure is upward and inward and hence the rubber needs only to be safeguarded from working outward.

The frog or filling 141 is preferably of cork or other light material and is provided with cavities or recesses 15 in its sides and rear corresponding to the size and contour of the rubber insets, andl also has half round recesses 16 for the screws 8, and thus said frog is made to cover the bottom of the heel between the rubber insets and to bear firmly'against the same to help hold the same 1n place, and to provide a central cushion. i

In placing the heel on the shoe it is necessary to provide theheel of the'shoe with holes for the screws 8 and with cavities about said holes to receive the washers 9` and the nuts 10 flush with the inner lining of the shoe, so that when the heel is applied from the outside and the nuts tightened the inner heel surface will be smooth. Then as excessive wear shows itself on any one of the rubber blocks it can be replaced by releasing the screw that holds it in place. In any ease the wear upon the heel is taken eX- clusively by the rubber, and the cushioning effect contributes greatly to the comfort of walking while it is also of especial value for safety in walking on icy or slippery places.

To insert and remove the rubber `pieces l and 5 it is only necessary to rotate the screws 8 partly so as to aline the flat side 11 of the eccentric head with the iat side of the rubber. To insert or replace the cork or rubber frog 14 it is necessary to remove the screws and metal case or shell C. rIlhe rubber piece i may be of curved shape, or it may be fiat as shown in Fig. 5 and bent tel fit opening 6 when inserted therein, and the rubber pieces are preferably of larger size than the openings so that crowding is required and compression of the rubber occurs when each piece is inserted. When any one of the three pieces isworn down and has lost its usefulness, a new piece can be substituted with ease and at a slight cost, and separate pieces are used at each side and the rear end of the heel of the shoe because the wear peculiar to different people can thus be accommodated.

What I claim is:

1. A heel for bootsv and shoes, comprising a metallic member forming the outside of the heel and having a flat bottom kprovided with openings in its rear and sides, pieces of rubber seated in said openings from beneath and bearing against the bottom of the shoe at its heel, and clamping screws through said openings having heads engaged in the sides oi' each piece of rubber and securing the said pieces in working position, the said screws having suitable nuts on the inside of the heel.

2. A heel comprising a shell having a border 'forming the outside of the heel and a bottom with rear and side openings, pieces oit' rubber inserted in said openings, a block member bearing against the inner sides of said pieces and filling the space between the bottom of said shell and the heel portion of the sole and screws through said openings bearing against the inner sides of said pieces and securing the said shell and block in place. Y

3. A heel for boots and shoes, having a shell constituting the outside of the heel and provided with a flat bottom having a segmentally curved opening across its rear and other openings at its sides, pieces of rubber occupying said openings and adapted to take the wear on the heel, a filling piece laid on said bottom and having its edge recessed to conform to the shape of the said rubber pieces and bolts locking all said parts firmly together and upon the heel portion of the sole.

Il. A heel for boots and shoes comprising a metallic shell having openings in its bottom, blocks of elastic rubber seated in said openings and a iilling piece in bracing relation with said blocks illing the space over the bottom of the shell, in combination with a shoe and screws in said openings situated at the inner sides of said rubber pieces and having heads in engaging relations therewith provided with lat sides adapted to release said rubber pieces, and nuts on said screws in the shoe securing the heel thereon.

Signed at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, this 24th day of May, 1919.

FERDINAND NEUBAUER. 

